Imagine Childhood : Magic & Memories That Last a Lifetime

. . . 5 reasons to love math!

5 Reasons to Fall in Love with Math!

Universal Language: In a great big planet full of different cultures and languages, it can be hard to communicate. But what if we told you that there was a language that everyone can speak and understand no matter where your feet take you? Well that magical language is math my friends; fun, confounding, glorious math. Makes you want to become fluent huh?

Explain/Interpret Relationships in the Universe: How does photosynthesis turn sunlight into food for plants? How much energy is expended when you push your shovel into the ground and dig a hole to plant a tree? How long does it take the light from the Sun to reach Earth? Math gives us ways to quantify these relationships, and in turn helps us to explain them. So cool!

Finding the Truth (sometimes): Math is one of those crazy things where for most instances there really is one right answer. So much so that you can use a mathematical equation to prove over and over again that a hypothesis is true. That's a pretty fun trick to have in your back pocket. As we move through this crazy thing called growing up, lots of issues and feelings are hard to prove one way or the other, but with math, you can find what is true. What a wonderful feeling of peace that can provide. 

Oh the Places You'll Go: Being pretty universal and integral to many different professions around the globe, math is a key component to every child's success later in life. From being able to quickly add up sums in your head, to coding the next great app, all the way to baking wickedly cool cakes, you never know where math will take you. An that's a pretty magical thing. 

Patterns in Nature: Have you ever noticed that the shape of our Milky Way Galaxy and the shape of a conch sea shell are the same? Or the similarity in the shape of a sound wave and an ocean wave? How about lightning and tree branches? Believe it or not, these are actually mathematical patterns, and hold clues as to how this crazy universe we live in really works.

Free DIY Crafting Activity!

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 A few of our Favorite Supplies:

Wooden Counting Frame

Drawing Compass

Colorful Notebooks

The Secrets of Mental Math

Blackboard Chalk

Playful Math Kit

and more...

xox

~i.c.

. . . 5 reasons to play dress up

5 Reasons to Fall in Love with Costumes!

Emotional Support - Time Together: There is so much outside stimulus we all have to deal with every day. So many ways to connect and disconnect at the same time. Growing up is complicated enough, and all this new technology and social media can make it even harder. Just like unplugging and going for a hike as a family, playing dress up on a rainy afternoon together is a fantastic way to connect and see where your kids are at. Put on a play, or a puppet show, give funny voices your best effort, roll around and be silly.Taking the time to be together, unplugged and fully present, gives kids a wonderful sense of emotional security.

Something from Nothing: How does that old saying go? Necessity is the mother of invention? Fill a trunk with odds and ends, old clothes, costumes, the old pasta strainer, and let the kids have at it. You'll be amazed at what they come up with! So often these days kids have a hard time figuring out what to do next. Free and open-ended play, like playing dress up helps solve this issue by extending attention span, and asking kids to problem solve in a way that is fun and highly creative. 

Roll Play: Ever wonder what it's like to fly to mars? Be a doctor, a firefighter, or a ballerina? Playing dress up allows kids to try out a persona, profession, or even a different gender. Having the space to try something out with zero pressure on time and outcome is so important for kids as they sort through this crazy adventure of growing up. 

Socialization - Taking Turns, Playing Fair: The basics of being kind and taking turns finds a fun and creative home in playing dress up. Coming up with a game or an imaginary world to play in takes consensus. Making sure each child gets a chance to contribute allows little voices to be heard, and ideas to be shared. And if someone doesn't play fair, it's a safe space to work it out and develop empathy. 

Imagination Powerhouse: This one goes without saying, but it's our namesake, so we are going to shamelessly plug it into the conversation. We are a little obsessed with the power of a good imagination, and engaging in a form of play like dress up is imagination gold. It really doesn't take much to play dress up either. Even if you don't have much in the way of supplies at home, an inexpensive trip to your local Good Will store will fill a dress up trunk without blinking. The worlds you and your little ones discover through imaginative play will unlock doors for a happy, creative and fun filled life, or as we prefer to call it, adventure. 

 

Free DIY Crafting Activity!

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 A few of our Favorite Supplies:

 Natural Face Paint

Dragon Costume

Felt Crowns

Pirate Costume

Fairy Wings

Fawn Costume

Play Silks

and more...

xox

~i.c.

 

. . . 5 reasons to love physics!

5 Reasons to Fall in Love with Physics!

1. It Teaches You to Think: Thinking is hard. This may sound a little silly, but it is! Humans are naturally inclined to take the easy road and just make assumptions based on emotions and beliefs, rather than making decisions based on the facts presented. In fact it takes a lot of practice to train our brains to think critically. The internet and the app store have done an okay job of giving us ways to practice this important skill, but do you know what's even better? Physics! Physically woven into the fabric of space and time, physics surrounds us everyday, giving us ample space to stop and consider what it is we are really experiencing.

2. Physics Explains:  So many aspects of our daily lives revolve around the laws of physics. Sir Isaac Newton defined many of these for us a very long time ago, and then Einstein gave us some clarity more recently. But lets take a minute and think about the simple idea of push and pull. We see our kiddos experimenting with this one pretty early on as they pull open a kitchen drawer and push it shut over and over again (this is of course followed by super fun experiments with force and gravity in which said child proceeds to eject all enclosed and organized materials in a impressive radius). As we watch our kiddos grow, take a moment to chat about physics as they happen on an aspect of it. I know a baby may not understand everything that you say, but they certainly understand the concept. Plus explaining the elements of Newtonian physics to a toddler is pretty darn entertaining. 

3. Physics Puts Math to Use: Just like thinking critically, math can also be hard. Which is why physics is such a wonderful tool for math. It takes all these numbers and symbols and puts them into real world use, creating a visual and physical reality where these numbers can find a home that kids can more easily grasp. 

4. Explores the Possibilities/Pushing Boundaries: A few years back (okay, like 100 years) this physicist guy with crazy hair and a German accent told his fellow physicists about a theory he had been working on. This theory of relativity turned out to fundamentally change the way we look at space and time. This theory answered so many questions, but left a few remaining, like what about those gravitational waves? Are they real, and how do we measure them? One hundred years later and we finally have an answer! What I'm getting at here is physics challenges us to keep searching, hypothesizing, and pushing the boundaries of what we think we know. How cool is that?!?!

5. It's Challenging: I'm writing about all of these reasons to love physics, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE physics, but it's honestly the hardest subject for me. That's because it's challenging. Not just for writing/visual arts inclined humans like myself, but for real science wizards too. Continuing on from the whole critical thinking idea, physics also challenges the brain to use lots of different areas. It's not enough to plug the numbers in. You have to think about all the facets of the problem just to find the numbers, and then you have to find the right equation to plug them into. Then you have to solve the equation. Physics is a wonderful workout for the brain!  

 

Free DIY Crafting Activity!:

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 A few of our Favorite Supplies:

52 Amazing Science Experiments Card Deck

Classic Dominoes

Giant Pick Up Sticks

and more. . .

xox

~i.c.